Furniture systems that can be moved to different locations within a facility are desirable in many applications and environments, such as laboratories, product inspection stations, manufacturing assembly stations, and clean rooms, for example. The mobility of such systems may provide improved flexibility for that environment. Typically, furniture systems include a tabletop, or other generally planar work surface, and may be adapted to support shelving, drawers, dividers, suspended cabinets, tack boards, and various other accessories. During use, furniture systems are typically loaded with laboratory equipment, analytical instrumentation, computers, other types of equipment, and files. In many applications, it may be desirable to provide various utility sources, such as electric, data, gas, fluid and vacuum services, at or near the work surface to facilitate the performance of various tasks.
Due to their size and weight and because they often support any or all of the above listed equipment, typical furniture systems cannot be conveniently and safely relocated. Moving a typical furniture system may require that any equipment, particularly valuable analytical equipment, must be removed from the furniture system and separately moved. And, due to their weight, furniture systems may require at least partial disassembly so that they may be carried to the new location where they may be then reassembled. In addition, even in situations in which some disassembly is undertaken, typical furniture systems may generally require multiple people to carry the disassembled components to the new location before being reassembled.
Alternatively to disassembly of the furniture system, a pallet jack or forklift may be utilized to move the furniture system as a whole. While this may be accomplished without initially unloading the above-identified equipment, utilizing a pallet jack or forklift may be limited to locations which are accessible to these machines because pallet jacks and forklifts are often large bulky machines that require significant space within which to maneuver. As such, space restrictions around the furniture system, such as the presence of other furniture and equipment, may prohibit access via a pallet jack or forklift and thus inhibit convenient relocation of the furniture system. Furthermore, space restrictions within the facility itself, such as, doorways, stairs, and/or elevators, between the current location of the furniture system and the new location for the furniture system may limit use of pallet jacks and forklifts.
Known mobile furniture systems are generally incapable of carrying sufficient weight and are often prone to tipping when being relocated. These furniture systems may include a supporting base including wheels to facilitate relocation of the furniture. However, a small amount of tilt as the result of being moved along an incline or across a threshold which inadvertently catches one wheel, may cause the system to become unstable, and, absent external application of a force to counteract gravity, inadvertent tilting may have catastrophic consequences and may cause injury and/or destruction of equipment.
Accordingly, there is a need for improvements to mobile furniture systems that improve the mobility and stability of such furniture systems while also maintaining or improving their aesthetic appearance.